Post Manziel? ‘Present’ Manziel already a handful for Aggies

COLLEGE STATION – On Friday night at Texas A&M Coach’s Night in Houston, an Aggies fan asked Kevin Sumlin what A&M football will look like post-Johnny Manziel.

“We don’t have to worry about that right now, do we?” Sumlin quickly responded in moving on to the next question.

No, the only thing A&M fans might need to worry about right now is the current locale of their Heisman Trophy winner – Austin, Texas – and I’ll repeat what so many folks around Aggieland have said for the past few months: training camp can’t come soon enough for Sumlin, Manziel and the Aggies.

The players report on Aug. 4 and start practicing on Aug. 5, and the daily grind is likely to slow the off-field roll of the star quarterback. Video has surfaced (first on Burnt Orange Nation) of what’s apparently Manziel – an insider confirmed he’s in Austin this weekend – exiting a Texas fraternity party on Friday night to a few hoots and hollers from partygoers.

Manziel had wanted to attend UT out of Kerrville Tivy but the Longhorns only offered him as a defensive back, and he still occasionally flashes the “Hook ’em Horns” when he feels like it. It’s not clear why he was attending the party – although Manziel has told me before he has lots of friends at UT and really doesn’t consider the Longhorns a rival since the two are no longer in the same conference – or why he was leaving. As my lovely wife @CrystalGalny offered, “Who cares?”

What was more clear today? Manziel was wearing a Jets Tim Tebow jersey – hey, loads of folks have told him to be more like the saintly Tebow – while attending another party in Austin.

Last week at the SEC media days Manziel vowed to reporters he wouldn’t be changing his extroverted (is that the word for it?) lifestyle, and by golly he’s apparently sticking to it. About a week from now, however, he’ll start gearing up in earnest for a whole different kind of fun. Provided he gets back in time from Austin.